Tyler, The Creator has expressed some regret for publicly shading Eminem’s Recovery album in 2010 — and he says a Netflix show inspired his change-of-heart.
The Grammy-winning rapper pulled up to Maverick Carter’s Mavericks show on Wednesday (Aug. 14) and among the myriad topics touched on in the music world, Tyler made sure to apologize to Eminem for his harsh criticism of Slim Shady’s 2010 LP, not understanding what he was going through to make the project at the time.
“When [Recovery] came out I f——g hated it,” Tyler said. “Publicly was like, ‘This s–t is wack.’ Didn’t like it and after watching [2023 Netflix miniseries Painkillers] I felt so bad about those tweets and things like that because thinking from his perspective someone like me publicly saying that stuff and him off drugs and being clean and getting to a point in life where that’s behind him and me implying, ‘Nah, this s–t is wack.’”
He continued: “He probably felt like I was attacking him. I thought I was just like, ‘I don’t like the music.’ He was in a different part of his life and probably felt like I was attacking him. Now I feel so bad about saying that stuff because my perspective was so limited.”
Tyler gushed about his appreciation for Em and his assistance in teaching him how to rap without even knowing it. “I love Eminem. That dude taught me how to rap,” he added. “I learned how to put words together in rhythm because of some of the Eminem stuff I was hearing and storytelling and things like that.”
The Odd Future alum wants to apologize to Em in person if he ever runs into the Detroit legend. “After watching that show, that gave me perspective — this was a few months ago — and I felt so terrible about some of the things I said about that Recovery album because I realized that was a big step and meant a lot to him and my f—ing stupid a– is like, ‘I wanna hear the same song and dance and I loved The Eminem Show,’” he said. “But he’s not there anymore. I felt terrible. If I ever see him, I want to tell him that in-person.”
Despite Tyler’s criticism, Recovery was still a major commercial hit with a No. 1 debut atop the Billboard 200 with 741,000 total album units sold in the first week. The LP went on to take home best rap album honors at the 2011 Grammy Awards.
Eminem and Tyler, the Creator have had an icy relationship over the last decade-plus. Slim Shady flagrantly dissed Tyler on Kamikaze‘s “Fall” in 2018. “Tyler create nothing, I see why you called yourself a f—-t, b—h,” he raps.
However, Em later admitted that he regretted his choice of words during an interview with Sway following the album’s arrival. “I think the word that I called him on that song was one of the things where I felt like this might be too far,” he said. “Because in my quest to hurt him, I realize that I was hurting a lot of other people by saying it. It was one of the things that I kept going back to and going, ‘I don’t feel right with this.’”
With olive branches extended, there appears to be a path to reconciliation for Em and Tyler — and who knows, maybe they’ll work together down the line. Watch the full episode below.
